Coming Home
by Lost Grey Soul
Summary: Private Katniss Everdeen has been through hell and back, but after an incident when she's the only that comes out alive, people start to question who she really is. AU
1. Preview

**AN: Hello, and thanks for clicking on the link :D! So this is basically a trial run to see if you guys will like it or not. Basically if it sinks then c ya later.**

**For any of my readers are coming from my Inheritance Cycle story then I must say that I am so sorry for not updating it, but I just needed something different, and again sorry!**

**Anyways without me spouting more nonsense, on with the preview!**

Date: April 3, 2012

The florescent lights kept a steady and constant buzzing while it filled the room with its florescent light. The room had 3 dull white walls with a one-way window on the final wall and a door to Katniss' right. She knew that there were people behind the window looking at her, and made sure that she kept a solid poker face, as she looked right back at them with her stormy grey eyes. She was in her military uniform, with combat boots and her usual desert camo pants and shirt. She had her hair in a bun to keep it out of the way while she moved. Her wrists were cuffed together and attached to the table she was sitting with two microphones on the shiny surface of the table. One facing her while the other faced the opposite way.

She had been in the room for over an hour now, just waiting for what she already knew was going to happen.

_They must be trying to get me to crack or something _thought Katniss as she continued to stared daggers at the window. She drummed her fingers against the table to calm her annoyance.

She had been sitting at the table for another half an hour before she heard a click to her right as a man in a cheap suit came in. He had short brown hair with streaks of white in a few places, and brown eyes that looked like mud hidden behind a pair of round-rimmed glasses. He kept his eyes on the table as he placed a folder on the table and opened up to look at its contents. From what Katniss could tell, it was her record of being in the military.

The man kept his eyes on the record for over five minutes as he jotted down notes on a notepad to the right of the folder. Katniss kept her eyes on him the whole time, unsure of what was to come next from the man. Finally, he looked up from the folder, fixed his glasses and stared Katniss right in the eye. He reached over to her microphone and adjusted it. He then adjusted his microphone and pressed a button at the bottom of both of mics.

"Please state your name for record," said the man. His voice was low and devoid of any emotion.

"Katniss Everdeen," said Katniss as she kept her eyes on the man.

"Date of birth and current age now please."

"May 8th, 1990. Age 22."

"Where were you born?"

"Walnut Bottom, West Virginia."

"How long have you been with the military?"

"Shouldn't all of this be in that damn, little folder of yours?" snapped Katniss. She didn't want to be in the tiny room talking to a total stranger. She just wanted to be finished with this little game they were playing with her

"Please just answer the question," said the man, keeping the same face he had come in with.

"4 years. First year was eight weeks for Basic Training, then spent some more time at marksman training after they saw how well I could shoot," said Katniss as she rested her elbow on the table and her head on one of her cuffed hands. If she was going to have to state the obvious she might as well get it over with.

"You could do more than just shoot, you could hit anything they told you to hit with amazing accuracy," interrupted the man. "You set all of the records at Basic Training and Marksman Training, yet decided to stay where you are now. I wonder why you didn't go for some sort of Special Forces instead of just being a foot soldier?"

"I'm not as great as you say I am, plus I didn't want to be," Katniss conceded. For some reason this was making Katniss fill with rage. She straightened up and continued with more venom and force in her voice. "I wanted to work where I wanted to, not somewhere else and having to keep secrets from people in my life!"

"I see," said the man as he jotted something down in the notepad, unfazed by her sudden spout of fury. "Please continue."

Katniss just stood there, shocked. This man had not flinched an inch since he had walked in and she had to admit, she was impressed. After looking at the man and seeing that he was staying stoic as ever, she rested her head back on her hand. "After finishing basic training I was promoted to private first class. Half a year later I signed up for a tour in  
Iraq and now I'm currently serving in on a tour in Afghanistan." She watched the man as he scribbled something down on his notepad.

"You have quite the record private Everdeen. Beside the records at Training, it seems like you've had a good career with nothing but good compliments from your comrades... Well that is until now," said the man, as he looked at the folder again. "Until your recent mission. I guess I should tell you now that you are accused with the war crime of insubordination, Abandoning your squad, murder, or a combination of those three," said the man as he closed the folder and looked at Katniss behind his glasses, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You're accusing me of something when you barely have anything on me, and haven't even heard my side of the story," growled Katniss. She knew she had to keep her cool, but something about the man made Katniss want to land a good punch on his face and break his stupid glasses. Plus, she had never been very good at holding back her temper.

"Well then, how about it private Everdeen, lets hear your side of the story, in which every single one of you squad members was killed. Everyone that is, except for you. Even your lieutenant was killed, while you came out of it. You do realize how bad this looks for you, don't you?"

Katniss just kept her mouth shut as she narrowed her eyes and began to glare at the man in front of her again. Katniss kept her eyes locked – filled with rage – on the man's, while his were filled with nothing. The two continued their staring contest for a few minutes, until finally Katniss let out a deep sigh and said, "Fine I'll talk." She took another deep breath and began her story. "March 30, 2012, at o' eight hundred hours. The day started off as any other regular patrol…"

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**AN: Review Please!**


	2. Leaving Afghanistan

**AN: Hello again, and welcome to chapter 2! I was hoping to get this up sooner, but now i'm totally open since i'm out of school and I hope to be writing a lot more chapters. An to all of the people who Fav, story alerted, and reviewed, thanks! i'm not a person with a whole lot of confidence so it helps me a lot to see stuff like that.**

**also just a heads up, for all of the military references (or anything really), I am trying to be as accurate as possible, so if you see anything you know is wrong feel free to tell me so i can fix it. Now, on to chapter 2!**

**forgot this last time :p**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

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It was several hours later when they had finally let go of Katniss. She had been proven innocent of any charges but they had decided to let her take leave for now and station her at a base near her hometown. She had been told that she was leaving on the twenty-three hundred flight back to the states and would need to grab her belongings. She knew that if she did anything to piss them off, they would just make her punishment worse. So, she did as she was told and headed towards her barrack.

As she walked, she couldn't help but notice all of the eyes that kept staring at her, and the sound of people whispering behind her back. _Just ignore them, Katniss_ she thought. _You don't want to make a scene before your leave_. Still it annoyed her that her so-called "fellow" soldiers were staring at her like gossiping teens in high school. But she acted like she did in high school and kept walking, ignoring all the burning eyes on her back.

As she arrived, she couldn't help but smile at the person leaning against the door way to the battered barrack. It was Gale, probably the only friend she had left in the military, after her fateful incident. His dark brown hair was in a crew cut, which Katniss was still trying to get use to because she was use to seeing him with long and shaggy hair. His grey eyes seemed brighter without the brown hair surrounding them.

"Hey Catnip." Even when Katniss was sure she was being completely silent, Gale was able to tell when she was there.

"Damn it, I thought I almost had it!" said Katniss as she walked up the steps to the barrack.

"Maybe in a couple of more years," teased Gale as he gave her a brotherly hug. They had tried dating during high school, but soon realized that it just wasn't working for either of them. Luckily they were able to stay as friends and kept hanging out with each other.

"So how did it go?" questioned Gale as he followed Katniss into her barrack.

"As well as it could of gone. They're making me take a leave from my tour and are stationing me at a local base near Walnut Bottom," said Katniss as she unlocked her room. "I leave tonight at twenty-three hundred." Her room consisted of two desks and two beds crammed into a tiny living quarters, but hey it was better than sleeping in a tent.

Both sides of the room were blank, except for the few things Katniss had laying around. Her former roommate, private Sarah Leeg had been killed a week ago by a roadside IED, with her sister Rachel Leeg. Everyone on base could never really tell the difference between the two sisters, that everyone just called them Leeg 1 and Leeg 2. Katniss had finally realized that the older sister Sarah had strange flecks of yellow in her eyes only a week before the twins had died. She still felt a pang of sadness whenever she saw the empty bed next to her's.

"Wow, that's actually pretty good considering what could of happened." Gale sat down on Sarah's bed, and Katniss felt another pang hit as she turned around.

"I guess," Katniss shrugged as she got out her bag and started putting what little of her possessions she had into the bag. "At least I get to leave this hellhole of a place."

"Yeah lucky you," laughed Gale as he watched Katniss gather the rest of her possessions. When she looked at her watch she saw she still had about two hours until the flight.

"Want to go grab a bite before your flight? You can enjoy the gourmet food they have here one more time," joked Gale as he stood up, heading for the door.

"I guess that's another thing I'm not going to miss about this place," laughed Katniss as she picked up her bag and headed for the door. As she was closing the door, she couldn't help but look at the room. While she hadn't exactly enjoyed her stay there, she had called this place home, and she felt somewhat sad leaving. Especially the empty bed of its owner who would never get to lay down in it again.

"You coming?" Gale called from the other end of the hallway.

"Y-yeah, I'm coming," shouted back Katniss as she closed the door on the room for the final time and started running after gale.

"What you got for me little Sae?" questioned Katniss as she set her tray in front of the head chef, Evelyn Sae.

"Same glop they give everyday. Seriously with this stuff its just add water, heat and your done. Totally bland," said Evelyn as she screwed up her face.

"Well its better at least with some heat. When your out in the field you can only add water really," said Gale as he put his tray next to Katniss'.

"Ugh, I can't even imagine. After I'm done serving I'm going to never touch this stuff and work with my mom." Evelyn announced after she scooped up some brownish liquid with brown lumps and dropped it on to Katniss' tray.

"How is your mom doing by the way?" asked Katniss, mentioning Evelyn's mother, Grace Sae, which everyone knew as Greasy Sae.

"She's doing just fine, thank you. She said she has this knew dish she came up with that she wants me to try," Evelyn shivered as she scooped some of the same liquid on to Gale's tray. "Seriously, how can you guys eat this stuff? Mom can come up with some weird stuff but this is just wrong"

"You learn to just shut up and eat," said Katniss as shrugged. "Once you get past the texture, the color, the flavor, and basically everything else, it's not bad."

"Your grave," mumbled Evelyn as they walked away. "Oh by the way, Katniss? When you go home can you say hi to my mom for me? She probably like to hear it from you and not a letter, plus she would like to see you as well."

"Sure, I'd love to see Greasy Sae again, and I hope to see you home soon as well," promised Katniss as she and Gale walked over to a table.

During their meal, Katniss could tell that Gale had something to say, but whenever she looked up at him, he would just shut his mouth focus back on his food. After about ten minutes of Gale playing hide and seek, Katniss had had enough.

"Ok, Gale what is it you are trying to spit out?" asked Katniss as she leaned back in her chair.

Gale just fidgeted in his chair as he tried to figure out the right words to say. Finally he just gave up and came out with it.

"You ok? I mean you look like crap for one, no offense," said Gale as he raised his hands up in surrender. Katniss just rolled her eyes at him. She knew Gale knew how much she cared about appearance. To her it was just a waste of time, when she could be doing something better. "Anyways, have you been getting enough sleep? You have so major bags under your eyes."

Katniss knew she had them and she was hoping that Gale wouldn't have noticed. She let out a shaky sigh and said, "yeah… no… I don't know." She put her head in her hand as she tried to figure out how she felt. "I haven't had much sleep since… well you know… me coming out while everyone else is dead."

"I figured as much," admitted Gale as he leaned forward. "You going to be ok when you back to the states? If you want I could ask for a temporary leave to make sure your ok."

"No, you need to stay here to get paid, and Hazelle I'm sure appreciates the money you send her," answered Katniss, lifting her head from her hands. "I'll be fine, ok?"

"Fine, but if you ever need me, don't be afraid to write or whatever, k?"

"Ok."

Katniss looked at her watch and cursed. "Shit! I got five minutes to go pick up my guns before I leave. Can you take my tray? I'll meet ya at the airplane."

"Yeah go ahead," confirmed gale as he got up and grabbed her tray along with his.

After running as fast as she could, she was barely able to get her M4A1 assault rifle, M9 handgun, and M107 sniper rifle, and be back in time to catch the plane, though she did have a feeling they weren't going to leave without her. She caught sight of Gale as she made a dash to the plane, with all of her gear in tow.

"You have everything?" asked Gale as he lifted an eyebrow

"I think so, if I forgot anything send it to me," panted Katniss as she caught her breath. She dropped everything to the ground gave a Gale a tight bear hug. "Be safe, ok?

"Got it."

And with that she picked up her things and walked on to the plane, leaving the mountains of Afghanistan behind.

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**AN: Reviews make authors feel good so please review! **


	3. Lost in Translation

**AN: hey guys! sorry that took so long, I have a lot of stuff going on in my life, but you probably don't want to hear about it :p. However, first chapter i got 5 reviews and then the next chapter I only got two? Did I write something you didn't like? Is there something else I should of done? This is why I like to hear reviews from you guys, so I know that I did something good or something bad.**

**And to the two that reviewed, Thank you very much Acacia Fynn Mellark, and Miss Mustang, you guys are awesome :D**

**oh, and to rearviewxmirrors, to the review in chapter one, you finally get your answer ;)**

**now... onto chapter three!**

******Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

April 4, 2012

The flight back was probably as good as any other international flight could have gone on a large C – 1 cargo plane. She was stuck on it because it was due for a cargo pick up in Berlin, Germany and they decided to put her on it.

It was loud and shook the whole flight. However, compared to combat and the sound of gunshots throughout the night, Katniss went out like a light. She woke up the next day to find herself in Berlin – Tegel International Airport.

She stretched her sore muscles and neck and looked around. The few soldiers that had come along were too busy loading up supplies to notice her, or to even have bothered to wake her up. So she got up and just walked off the plane with anyone looking. She knew she should be checking in with someone, but they were the ones who put her on the cargo plane.

She made her way inside and wanted to get through the trouble she was going to cause by bringing in not only a handgun, but also an assault and sniper rifle. She could tell as soon as she walked in people were turning to look at the strange sight that was her.

Her hair she thought was probably out of her braid and messed up from sleeping in the uncomfortable seat. Her face was tanned from staying under the blistering sun, with dark circles underneath her eyes from a lack of sleep. Her desert camo pants and jacket were caked in dust, which she learned to get used to since everything in the base seemed to get covered in it. All in all she knew she was going to cause some heads to turn.

She made her way through the airport until she got to the part she knew she was going have the biggest pain in the ass, customs.

She walked up to a customs inspector and handed her all of her papers. Since she had gone this before she learned it was faster to just hand them everything that they needed. She watched as the inspector called over an officer and then signaled for Katniss to follow the officer.

The officer led her to a room and motioned for her to sit down. The officer began to look through her papers, but then stopped on one and looked at for over five minutes.

"Is there a problem?" asked Katniss, starting to sit up straighter.

The officer just raised an eyebrow, questioning her.

"Problem?" she asked again, pointing to the paper.

The officer, finally understanding what Katniss was saying, just simply nodded and walked to the door and said something in German. Suddenly two more officers appeared out of nowhere and entered the room, while the first one went of somewhere. Katniss shrunk back into her seat, like prey hiding from the hunter. She knew something was wrong as soon as the two other officers walked in. She heard the door handle turn and saw the original officer walk in followed by a man with blonde hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. But she had seen them before, and when she finally realized it, it hit her like a brick wall

She felt her stomach fall as she finally realized whom the man they had brought in was.

It was Peeta Mellark, the man that had saved her life.

She felt her mouth go dry and her palms start to sweat as he turned his eyes to hers.

"Hello Katniss, quite a coincidence seeing you here," beamed Peeta as he gave Katniss a friendly smile.

Katniss gulped, trying to wet her mouth. "Yeah, I though you were in the states," questioned Katniss, her gaze fixed on Peeta.

"I was, after my assignment with you, but then I came to Germany for another story I was assigned," answered Peeta as he sad down next to Katniss. Peeta was a freelance reporter bouncing from news websites to newspaper. His latest assignment had been to follow Katniss' convoy and see what it was like for soldiers in Afghanistan and how the squads functioned together

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_The day had started like any other day for Katniss, wake-up, daily routine, physical training, and then meet up with Gale for breakfast._

"_What do we have for today?" asked Katniss as they both walked to breakfast._

"_No idea, the lieutenant said that he had announcement at breakfast," shrugged Gale, as he opened the door to the canteen._

_After getting breakfast, they headed over to the large group that was there Platoon. Katniss said goodbye to Gale and sat down next one of her squad mates, just nodding and then sitting down to Cameron Shawk, a tall, lanky fellow with jet black hair and dull blue eyes, hard from a lack of emotion, and Vixen Foxx, a girl that was in every shape and color of a fox. From her long limber limbs, to her fox like face. Even her hair was similar to that of a fox's coat. They both gave a nod back and went back to eating. Both weren't much for talking like Katniss, and she liked that. They respected her and she respected them._

"_Ok, now that everybody is here, we can start with the announcement," shouted first lieutenant Haymitch Abernathy. He was the lieutenant for Katniss' Platoon, and was one of the few lieutenants the higher ups didn't like. He had been found with liquor multiple times, never was strict with his sergeants, and never really cared for the rules. This is what made Katniss favor him over anyone else ranked higher that her. Well him and her sergeant, sergeant Nicholas Boggs. She liked both of them because they were like her, willing to fight for what they believed in._

"_Most of you probably are wondering why we called all of you here today. That is because we have an interesting guest with us," continued Haymitch, rolling his eyes, earning a few chuckles from the platoon. "He is a reporter working for CNN that has special permission from the higher ups, to be learning about life together as a squad in Afghanistan. Now the higher ups wants everyone to be on their best behavior, but really, I don't give a fuck." This earned him some more laughs as he continued, "basically get used to having a shadow, but stay focused. I don't want to hear a report about how one of you either got the poor guy killed and or died protecting him. Make smart decisions, understood?" He asked, scanning the room and receiving some nods. "Good, someone go call him in," Haymitch grumbled as he quickly took a swig from a flask, which was probably filled with liquor._

_Katniss watched as she saw Boggs get up and head over to a door and open it up. Out came a man that she would remember for the rest of her life. _

_"Hello everyone, my name is Peeta Mellark."_

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"What about you, I thought you were stationed in Afghanistan still?"

Katniss shook her head of the memory and felt the sweat in her palms building. She didn't want anyone to know what had happened, especially Peeta. "I'm being stationed in the states now, but that isn't important right now. Why are you here?"

"I saw you were at the front of the line when I came in and watched as they pulled you into the room. I had barely moved when I over heard them say in German that they needed a translator. I raised my hand and said I could translate for them," shrugged Peeta. "Plus I thought it would be good for you to have someone you know on your side." He gave another smile, radiating confidence.

"Yeah… thanks," mumbled Katniss as she turned her attention to the officers.

Peeta also turned back to the officers and began to discuss with the officer over what the problem was.

"So what's the problem?" asked Katniss, poking him in the shoulder after waiting ten minutes of listening to Peeta and the officer talking rapidly in a language she couldn't make heads or tails out of. To her it sounded like they were both angry, because of the way they talked

"They say there is a problem with one of your gun permits, but I'm looking over them right now, so give me a sec, k?" Said Peeta, looking down at the papers. She could see that he was confident he could help her, but wanted her not to interfere.

"Fine," sighed Katniss, folding her arms over her chest and sinking into her seat. She did not want to stay in the room another minute with Peeta right next to her. He had saved her life, and she couldn't get over that, especially since she was the soldier and he was the civilian. And now, he was helping her get through the possible trouble with her gun permits. It seemed like she had a ever growing debt to him, and she hated it.

"entschuldigen Sie mich, Herr?" said peeta, as he waved the officer over.

"Ja?" officer said, which to Katniss sounded like he was asking something, but she had no idea.

Peeta then began to speak rapidly as he started to point something out to the officer. The officer said nothing but nodded as Peeta kept pointing to certain things on the pieces of papers.

After what felt like half an hour to Katniss, but was probably five minutes, the officer shook Peeta's hand and gestured towards the door.

"Danke," thanked Peeta standing up and putting the papers into a neat pile and handing them to Katniss. "All done, you're free to go," he gave another warm smile as she took his papers.

"Thanks," muttered Katniss. "They're going to take my guns to the plane, right?"

"Yeah, he said he would take them to the plane as a compensation for making you wait."

"Why was there so much trouble anyways?"

"Oh, its sorta funny really," chuckled Peeta as he scratched the back of his head, looking down. "There was a smudge and he misread it for something else."

Katniss felt her jaw drop as she looked at the man in front of her laughing. "You mean I was in there longer than needed because of a simple reading mistake?" She nearly shouted.

"Katniss, calm down," said Peeta, his voice serious and commanding. "Lets not make a scene. Your probably tired from your flight, but lets not cause other people trouble."

"Fine," huffed Katniss. "Wait, don't you need to go through customs?"

"They let me cut to the front so I could help out."

"Lucky you," said Katniss rolling her eyes as she continued to walk towards her gate.

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until Katniss realized that she and Peeta had been walking in the same direction the whole time.

"Umm, can I help?" questioned Katniss, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"No, is something wrong?"

"Why are you following me?"

"What makes you think I'm following you?"

"We've been walking in the same direction for a couple of minutes now," stated Katniss, gesturing towards where they were walking.

"We're on the same plane Katniss, I'm heading home as well," laughed Peeta, a smirk on his face.

"Seriously?" complained Katniss.

"Yep. What seat are you sitting in?" asked Peeta, pulling out his ticket.

"34A, probably one of the only seats left on the plane." Silently she was praying that they weren't sitting next together.

"Hey I'm sitting in 34B, looks like we're sitting next to each other." A grin covered Peeta's face, while Katniss cursed under her breath. "Yeah, _great_," she said, sarcasm almost dripping from her voice.

_This is going to be a long flight._

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**AN: like I said before, reviews tell me if I did something good or bad, so... review!**

**and yes i know that this would never happen and that Peeta can speak German, get over it!**

**oh and btw Peeta is saying in German _"excuse me, sir?" _and_ "Thank you." _ I used google translate so don't get mad if its wrong. AND ONE MORE THING (lol this is the last one) you will find out about all of this stuff later, like how he saved her life and other stuff. k now i'm done :p**


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